Moab Seduces Israel

Satan has used many things over the course of human history to turn mankind away from God, and this is, as they say, the oldest trick in the book. We will read greater detail in chapter 31 regarding the human catalyst of this sinister plot. That catalyst was Balaam, which definitively revealed his true heart toward God. Under his advice, Moabite women enticed some of the men to engage in pagan idol worship by inviting them to participate in ritual sacrifices that involved sex with temple prostitutes. This had been strictly forbidden by God on many levels, since they were not to worship any other gods and were not to intermix with the pagan nations around them. Because they were about to enter into the land of Canaan which was inhabited entirely by pagans, this preemptive strike was necessary to enforce God's mandate that the Israelite nation remain pure. To put an immediate stop to this brazen disregard for God, another plague broke out, killing 24,000 before Phineas executed the man and woman caught in the act. Having lost so many Israelites in recent plagues (poisonous snakes, food poisoning, etc.) and being on the cusp of battling their way into the Promised Land, it became necessary to reassess their military strength. It would also have been important to ascertain the size of each tribe for the purpose of apportioning the land once they arrived. The overall numbers were not that different despite the hardship of their desert wanderings and the plagues they were subjected to. The census showed a decline in the male population of only 1820, which was 3 tenths of a percent.

Tomorrow's reading: Numbers 27-29